A quarter century ago a passion for craft brewing ignited across the country. Today, the founding breweries of 1988 have united to commemorate that seminal year with a special selection of beers. Every bottle is a portal to the renaissance of craft brewing. Each steeped in heritage and expert craftmanship. Enjoy this tribute to the class of '88.

From the brewers of the celebrated 'Black Butte Porter' and 'Edmund Fitzgerald Porter' comes this limited-run collaboration. Brewed with roasted and smoked malt for a rich chocolate aroma and subtle smoky flavor.

Pours an almost opaque super dark brown with a foamy khaki head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Small streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of roasted malt, smoked malt, smoked meat, campfire, and slight adhesive bandage aromas. Taste is much the same with sweet malt, smoke, and adhesive bandage flavors on the finish. There is a mild amount of smoke bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is an above average beer but the adhesive bandage quality in the flavor makes this beer hard to drink very much of.

a collaboration with great lakes I think, this is a really unique beer. it pours a dark brown with a faint rust color in light, a fading cream head slowly relaxes. the nose on this is real intense, every bit as smoky as the rauchbiers of Germany, heavy heavy smoke is obvious. tobacco too, and there is a pronounced meat character, like curing bacon or something, not gross, but strange in a beer. flavor is bitter from the real dark barley malts, and there is a coffee hint as well. the smoke is most dominant, really permeating my taste buds and distracting me from any more subtle flavors. I love a good smoke beer now and then, especially in the fall, and this really hit the spot, but may perhaps be overdone in that regard. peat in the finish gives it some richness, and the alcohol is real well disguised, I would have guessed 6% abv in a blind tasting. thin body for the style makes it more approachable, and I can taste this long after the swallow. not a great beer to stuff into the middle of a session, as it sort of ruins the palate for awhile, but a bold and delicious beer I am glad to have been able to enjoy. Deschutes can do no wrong in my eyes.

I had a bottle; VDubb had a bottle; we were at his place, so we went with his bottle. Whatevs. This stuff pours a deep black-brown topped by a finger of khaki foam. The nose comprises roasted malts, smoke (strong, but still mild), and a dash or two of dark chocolate powder. Simple and effective. The taste brings in more of the same, with a slightly stronger vein of smoke, more chocolate, and a small addition of mild molasses. The smoke weaves effortlessly with the roast, neither one overpowering the other. Balance is the name of the game here, people. The body is a light medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a fairly dry finish. Overall, a damn fine smoked porter. 'Nuff said.

This is a sipper, not a bad Smoked Porter, but a bit too over stated for my liking; give me Alaskan Smoked Porter any day, but well worth a try. Maybe just a little too complex for me, maybe a Winter release would've worked better for me? Was hoping for a little more maltyness

Oh boy. The two best brewers of American Porters come together for a collaboration; I'm definitely excited to try this one. 9.1% ABV confirmed. Best by: 04/29/14. 1 pint 6 fl oz brown glass bottle with straightforward label art and branded pry-off cap acquired at a local bottle shop for $7.99 and served into a Samuel Smith nonic glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are sky high given the style and the two breweries involved.

Served cold - straight from the fridge - and allowed to warm over the course of consumption. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a one finger wide head of khaki colour. Decent creaminess. Low frothiness. Retention is fairly bad; maybe two minutes? Hrm. No lacing as the head recedes. Okay thickness. Not a great head by any means - especially in an ideal glass for the style.

Body colour is a dull dark cola amber-black. Opaque. Hm. This really isn't looking good. Looks like a crappy schwarzbier, to be honest.

No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show.

Sm: Sweet caramalts and middling smoke; execution seems poor indeed. Dark malts. No hop profile is noticeable. No yeast or alcohol is detectable. It's just a thin weak aroma with no balls. I'm shocked at how underwhelming this beer is so far. Not getting any roasty or toasty character. The label describes a "rich chocolate aroma"; that's just nowhere to be found here. A light pathetic aroma for a porter. Hopefully it picks up in the flavour profile?

T: It does pick up a bit, but it's still fairly embarrassing. Weak smoke and some light bacon notes. What happened? No roast. Cola. Almond. Sasparilla. A light vague hint of chocolate malt, but no actual evocative chocolate. Some char. The finish is pretty garbage. The body is pathetic, comprised entirely of weak middling dark malts. I do get some sort of fruit or berry, which is unexpected - and out of place. Flavour duration and intensity are below average. Depth of flavour is poor. Not complex or subtle by any means. Wow, is this a disappointment. On the sweeter side.

Mf: Thin and weak. Doesn't support the flavour profile all that well. Lacks legs to stand on. I'd almost call it lightly watery. Undercarbonated. Not oily, harsh, or gushing, but not approachable either. Smooth and wet. Doesn't suit the style well at all. Really poor execution. Sticky.

Dr: Hugely disappointed given the breweries involved. Definitely not worth the price. I wouldn't buy this again if it were half the price. Quite a poor brew from Deschutes/Great Lakes. I never would have expected that. Some reviewers have compared this unfavorably to Alaskan Smoked Porter; I think drawing a comparison at all is an insult to Alaskan Smoked Porter. It's downable; there's just nothing going on here. And the execution of the smoke feels amateur. It seems like a homebrew smoked schwarzbier.

I am going to keep my review short to highlight on the important stuff. This beef is pure smoke. Sure it has your typical porter flavors, but the smoke dominates this beer. I could not drink a lot of it because of this.

Mouthfeel: Smokey and roasty. Ends very dry.

Overall, I didn't want more than a few ounces. Just not drinkable. Tone back the smoke a tad and this would be a great beer.